THE chairman of new African budget airline Fastjet is to take home a salary of just £1 a year in a bid to foster economic growth on the continent.

David Lenigas said his pay package, which will also include refunded business expenses and directors liability insurance, was his “personal way of contributing to changing life for the better in Africa”.

“Fastjet’s low cost of travel can be one of the greatest motivators of economic development and change in Africa. We can have a fundamental profound effect on the communities the airline will serve.”

I am passionate about the possibility of Fastjet’s ability to change Africa’s GDP growth profile.

Fastjet chairman David Lenigas

Aim-listed Fastjet is a spin-off from African trading group Lonrho, which is the largest shareholder in the airline with 67 per cent.

It is also backed by easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, whose easyGroup holds a 5 per cent stake.

Lenigas, the former boss of Lonrho, was criticised earlier this year for hiking his salary by 50 per cent to £750,000.

The move was slammed at the time by board member Sir Richard Needham as “an unacceptable face of capitalism”. Needham subsequently quit.

The new airline came into service in Tanzania last month with twice-daily flights and plans to expand rapidly throughout the continent with 40 aircraft by 2015 carrying 12 million passengers a year. It uses modern Airbus A319 aircraft and tickets are priced as low as £12.50.